The North Remembers
by FervidIndignant
Summary: When the seventeen year old Arya Stark finds out her family are alive and living in Mystic Falls, she makes a decision to leave her life at the House of Black & White. A new life will begin, and she will find her life changes forever.
1. Prelude

**Prelude**

Seven summers, that was how long I had spent in Braavos. Seven long years spent training with the Faceless Men learning how to fight and how to lie; learning how to speak High Valeryian and Braavosi and more importantly learning how to change my face at whim. I had become a fully-fledged assassin by the time I was eleven and indeed my body count at that point was higher than the greatest Knights of the Seven Kingdoms. By this point I was simply just no-one, at least to those whose House I was living in. When you joined the House of Black & White you were expected to give up everything about yourself – your name, your belongings and if they could have their own way? Your memories. And although I had gone through the motions of agreeing that I was simply just "no one", I had held onto the fact that I was and always would be Arya Stark of Winterfell. They couldn't ever take that away from me; so long as I remembered who I was and what had brought me to this city in the first place. My father was dead, accused wrongly of treason and executed in the most heinous way possible; I had been at The Twins and heard the anguished screams of my mother, saw the body lead out upon that horse with the wolf head sewn to his shoulders. I could still hear the chanting in my nightmares, _Here Comes The King In The North. _I woke in a cold sweat most nights, screaming out for my brother. Yet there was no one there to hold me and take away the pain, to tell me it was only a dream. Because it was all so very real.

And so I went about my days almost as if I were in a dream, as if I were a wraith. I took my contracts from the Kindly Man, completed them with a vicious blood thirst that would surprise anyone and I felt no guilt over it. This was survival; this was me staying out of the way of those who wanted the rest of the Stark's dead. I didn't even know if the other's still lived. My father and mother were gone, Robb too. But what about Sansa, was she still alive? Bran and Rickon? Jon? Were they all dead, too? Was I truly the last Stark? I didn't have the answers and I didn't think I ever would, so I kept being no-one. That was who I was. No-one. The girl who changed her face and carried out contracts for the Many-Faced-God. He wasn't my God, never would be. My God was death, and I always told that bastard "Not today"

Now I stood upon the edge of the harbor, watching the ships as they came in. Many of them were from Westeros, others from lands I had never heard of before. America, that was one place that intrigued me. The people who got off those ships looked so different to the people here, they dressed strangely and spoke with a strange, lilting accent. I listened now to a group of them as they stood there with strange white sticks in their mouths that send up plumes of funny smelling smoke. I was good at eavesdropping. No one noticed the girl with the raven hair as she stood there in silence.

"Have you heard? The Stark's are in Mystic Falls?"

My eyes widened at those words and I turned, staring at the group with a mixture of horror and curiosity.

"The Stark's? I thought they were all dead?"

"Apparently not. The King In The North has been seen there, though many say he was killed at that wedding. And Ned Stark's bastard is there too. Seems they've made a new life for themselves."

"Just those two then? I suppose the others are dead."

"Word is that the cripple and the little boy are on their way there too. And the pretty red headed one. No idea about the wild little wolf girl."

A sob escaped then, tears pricking at my eyes as I stepped towards the group with the strange accents, "Did I hear you right? The Stark's?"

I was greeted with a raised brow, "What does the little wretch want to know that for?"

Swallowing back my emotion I met the man's gaze with my bright blue gaze, "Because…because I'm Arya Stark of Winterfell. And I want to go home to my family. Please, will you take me to where they are? I don't have much…but I can work. I've worked on ships before…"

A stony silence greeted me, hanging heavily in the air for a moment before the man nodded, "Alright little Stark. We leave in an hour. If you're not here by then? We leave without you."

I nodded swiftly, turning from the group and tearing through the streets of Braavos. The thin leather of my boots pounded against the cobbles of the backstreets of Braavos as I wound my way towards the House of Black & White. What I would do now was simple. I would retrieve the few belongings I had; I would tell the Kindly Man he would never see me again. And then I would go to this new land and be reunited with the family I thought I had lost.

I was going home.


	2. One - The Moving Metal Box

Standing upon the deck of the ship, I had waved goodbye to the Titan of Braavos. It was a stupid thing to do but I couldn't help myself. I had seen the Titan every day for 7 years, that colossus that watched over the city of Braavos; his eyes blazing whenever the city was under threat. It would be odd not to see that familiar figure every day but it was time to move on. And so I had torn my gaze away and moved to the other side of the ship, locking icy blue hues on the horizon. This was all rather excited and every time I thought of seeing my brothers again my stomach felt as if it had butterflies fluttering around in it. And for the first time in a long time I felt a real smile grace my features, followed by musical laughter. Seven hells it felt good to laugh again.

The trip was long and arduous, the seas so choppy and stormy that many of the crew got sick. I reveled in it though, the freedom of the open water. The men would often stare at me as if I were insane when I would be out on deck during a raging storm. I would grip the strange metal railings, allowing the salty spray to soak me completely, only returning to my cabin when I was thoroughly soaked through.

"You're mad, wolf girl"

I flashed a grin at the young man named Matthew as I wandered into the ship's dining room, plonking myself opposite him as a bowl of stew was shoved in front of me, "Mad? No, my father said I'm wild. I have the wolf blood apparently. There's nothing that scares me."

His laughter echoed around the room, and he was joined by the rest at the table. My hand stopped half way to my mouth before dropping the spoonful of stew back into the bowl and I stood quickly, the chair falling backwards. The laughter died and Matthew's viridian gaze met mine, arching a brow, "Calm down, Miss Stark. It's not often we come across a young lady so fearless, is all. We'd heard of your wildness of course…"

"My name is Arya, not "Miss Stark" I sneered as I righted my chair and sat back down, blue eyes narrowing upon the young man before me. He was a handsome man, if a little stupid. Kind of like Gendry, and my stomach gave a small lurch thinking of that stupid bullheaded bastard boy, "And you'd do well to remember it…How long until we arrive?"

I was highly aware of his eyes on me as I began to shovel spoonfuls of stew into my mouth. I was ravenous, having lived on little more than stale bread, oysters and cheap meat whilst living with the Faceless Men. This food was glorious and so rich, almost as good as the food that had been served to us back home in Winterfell, but I knew I'd probably end up suffering for it later on. It didn't matter though as I listened to Matthew speak;

"We dock tomorrow morning. And from there we make our way home. You're lucky I'm heading to Mystic Falls, little Lady. Or you'd have to make your own way there. And it's a good few hours' drive."

A frown flickered across my features at the use of the word "Lady". I was certainly no lady, never bloody had been. Hell, even my father had known that, "The last person who called me a lady got shoved over. If I wasn't relying on you to get me to where I needed to be, I'd shove you overboard."

He blinked at me for a moment before muttering something under his breath that sounded like "psychopath", standing and eyeing me suspiciously as he turned on his heel to get rid of his bowl. He left without another word leaving me sat alone with a half empty bowl of stew. It had suddenly lost its appeal, felt as if I were chewing on rubber. Sighing softly I set the fork down and pushed the bowl away, silently getting up from the table and dragging exhausted feet down the strange metal coated corridors towards my cabin.

Pushing open the heavy door and letting it swing shut behind me, I kicked off my boots and crawled into the uncomfortable bed. At the bedside light spilled from a candle with no flame. I was told this was because of "electricity" and a "light bulb" but it looked like witchcraft to me. The strange artificial light cast long shadows over the thin cabin and I glanced at Needle leaning against the wall. She had been my one link to home these past few years, even though I'd had to hide her whilst in Braavos, and that had given me comfort. It gave me comfort even now, knowing that in the not too distant future I would be reunited with Jon.

As I settled down beneath the scratchy covers, I felt the ship sway upon the water and wondered how many would be retching at that moment. Not me though, the soft swaying lulled me into relaxation and not long after a deep sleep.

I hadn't even switched the lamp off.

"Arya!"

Grumbling as I felt myself shaken into consciousness, I opened bleary eyes only to see the face of Matthew grinning down at me and his hand on my arm. Shaking him off I sat up and glared at him, "Seven hells, what's so urgent!?"

His grin only widened as he chucked a fresh shirt at me and a hairbrush, "Welcome to the United States of America, Arya Stark. Get your ass out on deck, you're gonna want to see this! So different to Braavos. Come on!" He reached out and grabbed my hand, yanking me out of bed, "Don't even bother changing your clothes. You'll do til we get on dry land and find you /real/ clothes. Come /on/"

I was yanked out of my room and practically dragged down the corridors before being pushed out on deck. Cold air hit my face and I inhaled sharply. Being used to the cold I soon grew used to it and as I stepped forward my eyes widened as I took in the busy port in front of me. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before and everything looked so strange. I was used to buildings made out of red bricks, transport being either horse or foot. Everything here seemed to be so huge, built out of strange materials and as for the methods of transport? I leaned over the railings to try and get a clearer few of what looked to be a horseless carriage. It moved on its own, almost as if some sort of magic were controlling it. This was no Winterfell, and certainly no Kings Landing. Icy blue hues widened to what I could only assume was the size of dinner plates as I turned back to Matthew, my raven hair whipping about in the wind as we docked,

"This…This is amazing. I've never seen such wonders!"

It was true. I had become so used to the crooked streets and even crookeder canals of Braavos. Everything here was so uniform, so busy. I had thought the crowds of Kings Landing were almost beyond imagining but there were so many people even out on that port side, dressed in the same strange way as Matthew and his ship mates. He laughed then and draped an arm around my skinny shoulders, "Welcome to America, Arya Stark. If you think this is insane, just wait until you see one of the big cities."

"What is it?"

I stood before the strange mental box; nimble digits clutched around the hilt of Needle as if the thing would sprout legs and attack me. This was of course utterly stupid. It stayed completely still as if asleep and I thought briefly of a sleeping lion, that if the strange metal monster was awoken abruptly it would pounce. Feeling suddenly brave I stepped forward and withdrew Needle from her sheath, reaching out with the blade to prod the sleeping metal animal only to have my arm grabbed by my companion.

"Don't scratch my car, Arya! Put the sword away and get in, will you?"

Muttering slightly, I placed Needle back in her sheath and moved around to the side of what Matthew called a car. He still hadn't told me what it was, or what it did, but given the big wheels on it it looked like some sort of transportation device. Hesitating briefly, I reached out and took the handle staring in awe at the interior of the strange machine and its leather seats.

"It doesn't bite, Arry. Just get the hell in so I can take you to where you need to go. Please?"

Blinking back my confusion all I could do was slowly slide into the thing he called a car, softly closing the door behind me. With eyes wide as saucers I stared at everything as Matthew got in beside me, placed what looked like a key into the machine and it gave an almighty roar that made me jump out of my skin. The only response from my new friend was an overly amused chuckle as the thing started to move, and I clung to the sides of the seat as if holding on for dear life. Truth be told I was scared out of my wits of this strange metal box that moved of its own accord. Yet the hum of the beast relaxed me and I found my eyes slowly starting to close, lulled into sleep by the dulcet tones of music that seemed to appear from music and the soft relaxing voice of my companion.


End file.
